Exhaustion
by khabiara
Summary: The Cat-burglar Nami is running away from the Donquixote family and its mafia, but her improvised escape will take her to the wrong place to hide. AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **The awesome characters of One Piece belong to Eichiro Oda.

From the author of "Stories of a Captain and a Thief" comes this new AU fanfic. Why? Because I am deeply obsessed with this couple.

Well, I put a lot of effort in this fic actually, it's going to take time for each chapter to be published, as the chapters are longer of what I am used to write.

I deeply encourage you to write reviews, if they are good, you'll make me happy, if they have suggestions, they'll be more than welcome, for my stories can always be improved C:

I hope you like it.

Chapter 1

As Nami walked inside the bar, the sound of the rain mixed with the warm smell of old wood and liquor. Empty as it was, the room allowed the girl to observe the dark wooden tables and stools at ease. The light fell from the windows over the dusty bottles, throwing shining blue and green reflections over the counter. As she freed her long red locks from the soaking hood, she recognized the etiquettes of the liquors in the shelves as the same that Luffy used back at the Going Merry Pub. She smiled confidently, that would make things easier.

"May I help you?"

The girl looked up to the top of the staircase that started from the middle of the room, leading to a poorly illuminated second floor which was probably very popular, as people who frequented those places loved intimacy. At the end of the steps, she saw the tall, slim figure of a man leaning towards the wall. She smiled her most innocent expression.

"I came for the job sign"

There was a moment of silence in which she had to force herself to keep still._ Women are not that common at bar counters._ She told to herself, if she only could get to show him her skills, she would surely get the job. Nami kept looking straight at him, still smiling, absolutely aware that confidence was the only thing he had to see in her.

"What's your name?"

She observed the young figure walk down the stairs "Nojiko" She lied. Nami was a common name but it was better not to tempt her luck. The arrogant stance and his polite grin, backed by two cold gray eyes didn't take her back, even though she expected a more _flexible _bar manager. As he approached her, he took the drinks card from one of the tables and handed it carelessly to her.

"Well, Nojiko-ya, I'll have whatever you feel more comfortable with"

The card was long and varied, as expected from a bar in the middle of a city full of merchants. She chose the most difficult drink among the popular ones as moved her body confidently behind the counter.

"Are there any more applicants I'm competing with?" She asked innocently, knowing the cold eyes were following her closely.

"A couple, I think"

"You think?" She grinned delighted; they hadn't left such a big impression then "Where do you have ice?"

The man pointed a door with a tattooed finger. _DEATH_, she read_. Scary_.

"Both of them are big enough to help me deal with difficult customers" She noticed the teasing note in his voice, pointing out the obvious flaws she had.

Placing the last tangerine slices in the drink, the girl shrugged her shoulders and looked at him straight in the eye when she handed it "There are many ways to deal with difficult customers"

"Being really honest, Nojiko-ya, I don't see you throwing old men through that door"

Leaning her head over her fist, her weight resting over the counter, the red haired girl waited until his fake customer took the first sip, guessing by his flashy frown that he had liked her creation.

"The fun thing with drunken men is that they are more eager to please a young woman than they think" She pointed out with a flirtatious grin.

This time the man didn't hide the smile "I guess a pair of days as a test won't hurt"

Nami raised her whole body in joy as she observed him climb the stairs up again "Really?"

Out of nowhere a ragged piece of clothing fell in front of her "Start cleaning the tables, we open in a couple of hours". Restraining her rush of anger at his lack of common courtesy, she crossed her arms over the table and sighed in relief.

At least, after so much hiding, she would have somewhere to breathe again.

Slowly, she started polishing the counter and wondered how many years since she had last been polishing anything at all. Back at the Thousand Pub, it was usually Chopper the one in charge of the cleaning, and the whole place looked so different. As her tired eyes observed the dark wood under her hands, she could remember the scratches at her old bar's counter; its wood was a natural light brown, the same as the walls, giving it the rustic air of a little town pub, and yet it was so lively and warm. The Heart's Bar was darker and more elegant, and somehow, even though she liked it, she could feel the luxury of its cushioned chairs and glass lamps sending danger signals up her back. _It smells like the casino._

It had passed an hour since she had started, and twenty minutes since she had finished cleaning anything that could be cleaned. Bored, she sat down in one of the tall cushioned sits and stretched "I finished!" She screamed upstairs and waited, but no answer came to her "I know you are there!"

And waited.

"Could you at least tell me what your name is?!" Nami tried to control her voice but she was almost sure he could smell the exasperation in it. _Damn you._

She was just considering moving her too tired legs upstairs when the front door slammed wide open.

"Boss! We brought…"

Nami raised her head, taken aback by the sudden interruption of two big men and one huge one. Their reaction was not so different, the three of them staring almost in shock to her, the one with the 'Penguin' hat coughed, holding a black bag in his hand which smelt like fish.

"You are late" The black haired man interrupted coming down the second floor "by the way, this is Nojiko-ya, she is working with us tonight" he said taking the bag from his grasp, walking past Nami into the kitchen.

"A pleasure" she smiled back, wondering how long since they had seen a woman, judging by the look in their faces. _Maybe they recognized me_. She thought for a moment, and she could feel her back going tense and her legs going slowly down the chair, preparing to escape, even the "boss" had gone, maybe…

"It's our pleasure" The first, red haired man answered "I'm Shachi, this is Penguin and the mountain behind me is Jean Bart"

"Just call me Bart, miss" he replied as Penguin nodded as a salute.

She relaxed. _At least they are nicer than their boss_.

"Bart works at the kitchen, Penguin and I take the orders, so if you have any problems just tell us" he said with a kind smile.

"I will" The girl replied, and as the conversation continued, she learned that the three of them had been together for a long time and that the pub was relatively new in town. As usual, customers were mainly workers of near government offices and merchants running away from the mafia and the war, quiet people who disliked fights. Unable to hold her instincts back, she realized that the three of them tried to hide their muscles and scars behind their casual outfits. _They used to fight. _she realized, and if she was right, then they and their annoying boss had a past as dark as hers.

As they spoke, Jean Bart went to the kitchen and came back with a tray full of sandwiches.

"Aren't you hungry?" the three men looked at her as they ate "Eat, it's going to be a long night, you know" Shachi came even closer to her and added in a whisper "Law is going to be tough as hell to you the first nights, he doesn't like weaklings"

As a reply he received a light hearted laugh "Don't worry, I'll be fine. But I guess I'll grab one of those anyway"

She tried to eat little bites as her stomach wasn't being very nice to her since… well, since she had left the casino. But it was no good thinking about it now, not when she had to worry about making money first. It didn't pass much time when Law came down stairs and put the 'open' sign in the door. As he gave a disgusted glance at the tray, he beat the counter with his hand and looked at Nami in the eyes.

"I forgot to mention that the room behind the kitchen can only be used by Bart Jean and me. If I see you near it, you are fired"

It was suspicious enough to raise almost a mad curiosity in her, but she managed to give her best surprised look "uh, ok, I guess" She turned to Shachi then, the question glowing in her face, but both men excused awkwardly and dispersed.

Nami's mind had to slowly move from her theories about Law's secret room to the little groups of people which were appearing, and she found out that her boss-to-be was making her things much easier by ignoring her completely. She was feeling almost at ease, for he was quick enough to avoid bumping against her each time they met in the narrow space behind the counter. It seemed as he didn't even care what she was doing, even though she knew he had been keeping an eye on her all night long.

As for the customers, she was surprised their drinks were much lighter than the ones people asked back at the Going Merry Pub. Here in Zao, people lived calmly; war was something that they had successfully kept on the other side of their walls, whereas in Dressrosa, well, everything outside the casino was cruel and chaotic, inside they were only cruel.

Here, younger men ordered more from her, trying to surprise her with their alcohol resistance (which she would have beaten easily), while the older complimented her until they were tired. Too busy trying to learn where everything was, the night flew by, and when the last customer left, she threw herself over the counter in exhaustion.

"Damn! I'm tired" she didn't raise her head, but she knew it was Penguin speaking. Shachi had started mopping the floor and the noises in the kitchen told her than Jean was doing the same. On the other extreme of the counter, wordless, Law was counting the money on the cash register.

Reminding herself that the day was not over, she forced herself to move her aching limbs and grab the remaining glasses on the counter.

Penguin looked at her "Law…"

Still saying nothing, as if considering it carefully, the black haired man turned to her and kept silence for some seconds. A chill ran through her back in panic. _He knows who I am. _But as her stomach sunk in nervousness, he just released half a smirk and closed the register.

"You did much better than I expected. You can leave earlier today. Come tomorrow at five"

She blanked for a second _. I did it._ A strong palm struck her back, Jean Bart smiling widely at her, Shachi and Penguin walked to her to congratulate her, and later, as she slept, she dreamed that she was back at the Going Merry Pub, bright and happy. The next day, when she woke up, the sky was gray and heavy with clouds. She remained in bed most morning, far from the windows, silently wondering how her friends were doing. _Only two months_, she thought, _two month and it will be safe enough to call them._

The second working day was as exhausting as the first. She had imagined that due to the location, the bar would be pretty popular, but never imagined how much, which was better. Maybe she would gather the money to travel again in less time than expected.

By the third day she had already learnt by heart the position of all the supplies and the glassware, even in the kitchen, and by the fifth day, she already had clients asking for her and her workmates talked to her as if she had been there for weeks.

The only one who was distant to her was her obnoxious boss. Busy as she was the first days, she didn't mind him ignoring her so much, but as things settled down and she started to have some free time, his apathy started getting on her nerves. Truth was, he wasn't like that with his clients, even less with his subordinates, but with her. When Nami made the drinks and observed at the joyful crowd in the counter, she would often see him smiling while pouring something on a cup. It wasn't a wide smile; she had to admit, but a subtle grin. Much better than the calculated smirk he would usually give to his wasted customers and to the flirting ladies (which overflowed his side of the counter as much as men preferred Nami's side). However, they were still perfect strangers.

Nothing very interesting happened until the second Monday. As she polished the beautiful black counter, she stretched her arms over the table as usual, resting her aching back and neck. Maybe, just maybe, she was getting tired more quickly than usual, but she wasn't sure.

"The counter will not clean itself, Nojiko-ya"

Absent mindedly, for she knew he was not looking at her, she observed him. Now that she paid attention, she had to admit the dark eyed guy was handsome. Not that she cared much, but she had to ponder for a moment why she hadn't noticed it before.

_He looks dangerous._ Something inside her told her. Had she met him in Dressrosa, she wouldn't had even spoken to him, but everything was different here, she thought.

"Doesn't your tattoo scare the clients away?" The girl wasn't really expecting an answer, so she hid her head under her arms, letting a cascade of recently freed red locks scatter over the table.

It was the sharp sound of a glass hitting the wood what took her back to reality.

"I would say it attracts more" he replied with a sly smile, holding a glass with whisky, just as the one he had left next to her. "I'm glad you didn't leave. Clients like you"

"Why would I leave" She feigned innocence as she took the glass.

He gave her one of his obnoxious smirks "It was just an impression"

She drunk a sip, struggling not to let her impatience show "And … how did you get that tattoo?"

His sharpening grin indicated her that that was not the right question "I wish to speak of it as much as you do of yours"

Nami had to stop her glass half way up, and smiled sadly. If he could identify her tattoo, the one she had gotten when she smuggled drugs for Arlong, no wonder why he was so suspicious around her "I'll assume that you got yours as long ago as I got mine"

Law had been nicer to her in those five minutes than in the whole first week, but the last thing he told to her remained in her head for the rest of the night. Before taking the last sip of his glass, he added forbiddingly "Time doesn't count for the ones like us, Nojiko-ya"

The way back home wasn't as pleasant as the previous ones that night. _Stupid Law, if he fires me for this I swear I'll burn his little bar to ashes._

By Wednesday evening, the bar was as crowded as usual, and her stupid boss, as she had taken to call him, at least bothered to say 'evening' to her when she arrived, which was nice. The drunkards were annoying as usual, but around ten, this new pair of unshaved men walked in and sat in front of her, blatantly staring at her cleavage. She was more or less used to that kind of situations though, even if she didn't like them, so when one of them tried to grab her waist with his stinking hands, she shove him away with a violent flip of the bottles she was using.

The warm touch of a hand took her by surprise "a daikiri and a margarita" Law commanded her as if nothing had happened, taking the bottles from her hands. It took her some time to realize what he meant, until he turned back to serve the pair of perverts the drinks they had asked.

"Thanks" she replied, walking to the other side of the counter, where a pair of disillusioned customers looked at their favorite bartender work for others. Even far away from them, Nami could still hear them calling at her, but she didn't pay them any mind. She was used to it.

The music and the muttering was so strong that she soon forgot the couple of drunkards and started serving the ladies on that side of the counter.

"It must be annoying" she heard from one of them, a pretty girl with light blue hair. It amused Nami that her drink was blue too, she shrugged her shoulders back "I've been a long time doing this, you get used"

"Still, it's very nice to see that Law cares about you"

Nami laughed "I don't think he cares _about me_, he probably doesn't want trouble"

"Really? Oh, I could have sworn he looked annoyed, Nojiko… Can I call you Nojiko, right?"

The red haired nodded as she poured some tequila in two margarita glasses "You come often around here, what's your name?"

"Vivi"

"Do you work near?"

Shachi appeared out from nowhere "At the governor's house. I need four beers and two brandies"

Filling the four mugs, Nami laughed again "You have an admirer"

"Don't embarrass me, Nojiko-ya" said Shachi walking away,

Vivi chuckled "I didn't know he knew that-"

The red haired girl saw it with the corner of her eye, the mug of beer coming to her through the air. She acted on instinct, throwing herself to the shelves on time. The glass exploded against the corner of the counter and fell to her feet.

"Enough"

The whole bar fell silent at Law's voice. Everyone's eyes fixed on the drunkards that had been harassing her earlier. It took a fraction of a second for the tattooed man to jump over the counter, enough for his three waiters to surround the troublemakers.

"Get out of here"

Nami felt Goosebumps all over her arms, wondering how long since she had heard someone sound so threatening. _He is like Luffy when he is angry._ She thought, a part of her feeling safe, the other one in danger. The man with the murderous eyes was the same who knew just by observing her that she had no honest past.

The two perverts stepped back, frightened. "It's ok. We-we are leaving"

The tension dispersed soon after they left, as quickly as Penguin and the others resumed their work. Law seemed more relaxed as he walked back to the counter, making a brief, blank eye contact with her. The chorus of his female fans gossiping about him brought her back to reality.

"I told you" Vivi said, smirking at Nami's confusion "He cares".

Nami managed a weak smile to her, but said nothing. Suddenly she had felt terribly weak, so scared, as before meeting her friends. There was no Zoro watching her back now, no Sanji to overprotect her to the point of annoyance.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm a bit cold, that's all"


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to all of you who read chapter one!  
>I hope you enjoy this one. This is a rather slow chapter, but there will be more action in the next one :D<p>

Chapter 2

It had already been three weeks, and three weeks were more than enough to collapse her _slightly curious _patience. She had to add, it was _sick _and _inhuman_ to forbid her the knowledge of what was behind that door. She hadn't stolen anything from them, she hadn't even asked what was on the other side, wishing that her obedience would earn her a little bit of trust. All in vain. _That stupid Law_, _if he thinks I'm leaving this place without knowing what's in it, he is so wrong. _Sitting on a chair with her back against the staircase rails made her boredom even more prominent, and the more bored she got, the more curious.

She tapped the glass in her hands. _Is he a dealer?._ Internally, she enjoyed the idea of having a little something to extortion him. His inaccessible attitude was starting to get on her nerves. He seemed to have way too much dignity to be a normal dealer, maybe he trafficked stolen art or something like that. Such things left a lot of money, but were quite difficult to sell.

Nami bit her straw, too anxious to contain it (her workmates made fun of her for using one of those, but it kind of reminded her of the drinks Sanji used to make for her). All the guys were outside, even Law, and she was an expert at leaving no traces of her presence at all. In fact, she had spent all her life doing exactly that. _No one will notice._

But, what if they did? What if _he _did? She was supposed to be a smuggler, not a thief. That could raise too many suspicions around her. Opening doors and such things were typical of burglars, and so she risked losing cover in front of Law. The whole idea made her unsettled, that man was too mysterious for her taste. So, as long as she didn't know what to expect from him, it was better not to take risks.

By five, it was taking them longer than usual to come back, which was almost cruel. She dangerously approached to the kitchen but distracted herself wiping the tables, then mopping the floor, and then going to the second floor to make sure for the third time that the chairs were aligned. After that, resigned, she sat on the middle of the stairs and sighted. Over her right shoulder, she had a pretty good view of the kitchen and its mysterious door. It was wide and black, pretty used and kind of filthy. Its lock looked cheap, but she knew it was not. Actually it was a rather complicated device specially designed to go unnoticed. She had learnt how to open them at the age of 11.

She thanked internally when the front door opened, letting her workmates and their _stupid_ _boss_ into the room. It was way easier to stop being the Cat Burglar when she was not bored.

"Nojiko-ya! Sorry we are so late" Shachi took off his scarf, walking to the end of the stairs. Penguin and Jean Bart nodded to her and went straight to the kitchen. Law stood on the door for a few seconds, staring at her with his typical derisive smile, and then he simply took off his coat while he moved to the counter. He didn't even bother to say hi.

_Why is he always so mean?!._ "It's ok. I had nothing to do anyways" she smiled brightly to Sachi as she innocently made her way to the counter too. "What happened?"

"Uh, we got entertained at a store" Nami smiled at his answer, it was way too false.

"All of you?" she leaned over the counter, observing how the red haired guy turned to the tables to hide the fact that he was obviously making something up. _Were you selling expensive sculptures to fat suspicious millionaires?_ It still didn't seem as a suitable theory, and even worse, it enhanced her feeling that she would figure it out only when she knew what was behind that _stupid _door.

The warm whisper behind her neck took her by surprise "Don't even think about it"

Ignoring her goose bumps, she answered in the same tone "I don't know what you are talking about". But her inner self raged impatiently, and she had to cover her furious face while Law crossed the very door he was telling her not to open, quite sure it was on purpose.

"Well, not all of us" continued Shachi "Law forced us to come in time"

"What a boring friend you have" She didn't need him to be around to be mean; always with the hope he would hear her.

Speaking with Shachi always made the waiting or the new turn a lot funnier. They would speak about food, music and travels, but food mostly, until Jean Bart came from the kitchen as usual, with a tray full of food in his hands. This time they were having onigiris instead of bread, which foretold the tragedy that was for her the company of their _beloved boss_ for dinner.

Being honest, it wasn't like he talked much; in fact, he spent most of the time quietly observing out the windows with dull eyes. But, yet, Nami felt as if he was always watching each single one of her movements. A part of her understood why. She was fully aware that she was not one of them, and she didn't intend to become one. That aside, there was something about him that made her deeply confused. At work, she had to admit that there was something in him that comforted her. There was something in the way he moved, that kept the world on the other side of the counter, keeping her and his men safe, but when they were not working, and he talked to her, there was something threatening in his voice, as if he was constantly reminding her to be careful with what she did and said. Yet, it was not that feeling of loneliness what worried her, but those moments in which he left aside his forbidding glances and observed her as if…

..._as if he knew more of me than myself_. The idea made her shiver in uneasiness. The Cat-burglar had never been good at fights, silences and lies were her best allies, but it was as if her mask was ineffective on him. _Only one month and a half_, she told herself in irritation, biting her oniguiri with no hunger at all, _a little more and you will be away from here._

That night was Vivi's bar night. As usual, she arrived early. Nami knew it was to accompany her, for they had become quite close friends. It felt good, for the orange haired girl wasn't sure when the last time she had felt so at ease was. _Probably since the last time I saw Robin_. She pondered bitterly.

"What do you work in?" Nami had been tempted to ask that for some time now, for Vivi always seemed to arrive with the most recent pieces of news. Truth be told, that could even result useful, but the last thing Nami would have liked was taking advantage of her.

"At the communication department"

She nodded while dusting a glass "That explains a lot"

Vivi laughed. "It's kind of boring really, too much paperwork for my taste, but at least you get to hear lots of gossips"

Nami served two whisky glasses and left them on the counter for Penguin. "Anything interesting?"

Her friend moved her own glass in circles, trying to remember "Something about a ship being stolen at Zao's bay, and that the governor's son was discovered in a brothel again. Besides that, only bureaucratic stuff"

"A ship?" Nami feigned surprise, but she herself had done it many times. The sea was a magnificent medium to travel without being tracked, if you knew how to navigate.

"oh… there was also something about the Donquixote family changing their head doctor, I think"

Nami had to make an effort not to drop the bottles she was using, too focused on controlling her sudden tension to notice that the man on the counter had also stopped his work to hear better. "Well…that's… did you hear who they named instead?

"Uhm, let me think. Ca...Ce…?"

"Caesar?"

"Yes, that's it!" It was only then when Vivi realized of her friend's reaction "how do you know about it? People here don't know much about the southern situation"

_The war_. Nami thought bitterly. _Our war_. This city, Dressdrosa was a wealthy city which the official government had kept out from the southern chaotic reality, but many suspected that it was due to illegal connections with the most powerful mafia families. That was difficult to prove though, but at least there were a bunch of innocent people living a relatively safe life, which was nice.

"I grew up in an Orphanage near Syrup Village" She lied "The Don Quixote family is kind of popular there. Their previous head surgeon was a skillful criminal known as The Surgeon of Death, I can't imagine why he would leave"

"I still don't understand why a surgeon is so important"

Nami shrugged "I supposed he is dead already. It's the Donquixote family we are talking about"

_Or he is alive, just as I am. _She had learnt in her spying mission that the Don Quixote family had been working in a new type of drug, which they were planning to use in hundreds of innocent children. It was for sure a lucrative plan, from which The Surgeon of Death would probably receive more money than he could have ever received before. _I doubt it was a money dispute. _But she doubted too that it had been his consciousness. She had heard too many stories about him to believe that he was dead already. Absent mindedly, Nami told Vivi how he was famous for being a dangerously terrifying and intelligent criminal. "It is said that The Donquixote family had sent one hundred men in his pursuit to force him to cooperate with them, but instead of him, they received two big containers with ninety nine beating human hearts, delivered by the only survivor, who died ten minutes after delivering the shipload. In his hands, he had a letter with the Surgeon's conditions to work for them. The Donquixote family accepted gladly, of course"

Vivi's terrified expression brought her back to reality. "Should I change the subject?"

"Yes, please. I was planning to sleep tonight"

Nami laughed, and all she could hear by that time was the soft chuckle coming from his workmate across the counter. For a moment, their eyes met, and his amused glance sent a chill down her spine before she looked away.

The night ended too fast for her worrying mind to notice. _Did they send him to find me?_ He was one of the most wanted criminals in the whole world, and Don Flamingo's plan, one of the most ambitious. Maybe she was worthy such a bother.

"Is there something wrong, Nojiko-ya?" Law's impassive voice interrupted her thoughts.

"...what's behind the kitchen door?" She cursed internally, but it was the very first thing that came to her mind instead of the truth.

He looked at her as if expecting something else, then smirked. "Honestly, I thought you were able of holding your curiosity longer than this"

Trying to ignore her offended self, she shrugged and walked to the front door, ready to leave. "Is it drugs, or illegal paintings?"

"Do I look like a trafficker?"

Nami replied a long "no" in her best 'yes' tone, and walked out into the chilling dark night "anyways" she added, waiting for him to lock the door "who do you sell them to?"

Slowly, the man put the keys into his coat and turned around to face her. "You mean the drugs or the art?" he started walking to the right. "You live this way, don't you?"

It wasn't a real question, so Nami had to follow him down the road, rather surprised at the fact that he was actually accepting to have a more or less civilized conversation with her. _Otherwise, why is he walking me home? _and yet she was not quite sure she wanted anyone to know where she lived. Curiosity taking the better of her, she decided not to complain and try to get some information from her skeptical boss.

"Both. I mean, the black market here is quite large"

He chuckled again, catching her full attention for a moment. It was a warm chuckle, she liked it. _Why can't he be like this all the time?_

"Currently, I have no clients" he hid his hands on his pockets "But even if I had I wouldn't tell you"

_He is playing safe._ And she didn't blame him for it, she would have done the same. She was sure that the man next to her wouldn't start a conversation out of nowhere, so she hid her frozen nose into her scarf and waited. They walked past two buildings before he continued.

"So, what did your friend told you about the Donquixote Family?"

There it was. She left the question linger for some seconds, trying to overcome her weariness.

"That they had a new head surgeon"

Nami saw him frown, his previous mood darkening "Who is the new one?"

"Caesar Clown" There was no point in hiding her knowledge of it, at least the basic one. Every person related to the under life used to be familiar with the events of the mafia families.

He nodded. "Predictable"

Nami agreed "he is known for experimenting with human beings"

Nami throat closed a little when she thought about it. Things were likely to get worse for anyone if that was truth._ Maybe I should hurry up. Maybe I should leave sooner._ They turned and approached her building. A huge, gray piece of concrete. "I guess you have to be that kind of a person to get there" she added weakly. It was when she touched the stained door of the building that she realized he had stopped walking. She turned around to meet a pair of indecipherable gray cold eyes set on her.

"You are quite familiar with all this, aren't you?"

She turned to him, startled_, _realizing too late she had been speaking as Nami instead of mouth moved in a vain, trying to excuse herself, but he moved closer, interrupting her, whispering a question that was not really a question, but a promise.

"Wouldn't you like to see The Donquixote Family fall?"

She could have sworn that his gray eyes, barely away from her, shone with a wild ambition for a second, narrowing in expectation. She knew she had to lie, but there was an odd warmth in his voice, an intense security that reminded her of Luffy. Against any common sense, she replied, half a smile finding its way through her wet lips, locks of orange hair floating free in the winter air.

"I would love to"


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you for your reviews C: I hope you like this chapter

Chapter 3

Being the second month of work, Nami supposed there would be no problems if she arrived earlier to the bar. The sky was too blue and the clouds too white to be hiding in her gray, inhumanly tiny apartment, which at least served as a safe shelter. From the money of the tips, she had managed to buy some second hand clothes, for the ones used in her escape had been torn apart and burnt. She had to be sure no one could recognize her.

She put on a hat, a pretty green coat and went out to the street, walking to the only other place that served, and felt, as a shelter. With the cold autumn wind messing around her hair, she had to admit it was hard to get used to so much freedom again. Leaving her friends to accept the deal The Rebellion had offered her had been a mistake, and yet she felt she had had no choice. Even if her friends, her _nakamas_ as Luffy liked calling them, would be mad at her sudden disappearance, leaving them had been better than dragging them to a war with The Donquixote Family. After all, she wasn't supposed to fight anyone, only to spy over Doflamingo.

Things had gone wrong, anyway, and there was still a long way to go before meeting with them again.

Shoving the memories away, she stood in front of the bar's door. As long as she was gathering the money to leave, she was Nojiko the bartender, no one else.

She took a breath before placing her hand in the pommel and shook her head.

But neither Nojiko nor Nami were prepared for what happened next.

Instead of finding the place empty, as she expected, she was received by the sight of all her workmates sitting at the first table, including her despicable boss, and there, in the middle…

… a bear.

She jumped back and hit her back against the door, closing it in the process, barely aware of the pain as terror overcame her.

From the table, the four men and the bear turned their heads to look at her casually.

"Oh, Nojiko-ya, you are early today" greeted Penguin.

To her horror, she saw the bear leave its chair and run to her, too fast for her to react. As the huge white mouth dangerously approached her face, she raised her arms to cover herself, but the attack never arrived.

As she opened one eye, from behind her arms she could see an open paw extending to her.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Nojiko-ya. My name is Bepo"

Her mind went blank, tears in her eyes as she realized that he was speaking to her, she spied on him from under her elbows.

"You... you are speaking" Her voice was shaking, dismayed and confused.

A blue aura covered him when he started mumbling something like an apology, moving her greedy heart.

"The… the pleasure is mine" she smiled, feeling slightly less scared than before, trying to control her tensioned body.

"So, it seems you can go to the kitchen's door now" Shachi invited her to sit next to him with a head movement while Bepo shyly offered her his paw to pick her up. It took her some seconds to grasp the meaning of the whole situation.

"Ah?" she faced Law for the first time in the day, discovering a shine of amusement in his gray eyes, a brand new sadistic grin of amusement all over his face. _So you enjoyed my little hysterical attack. _She thought, half enraged, half embarrassed, a slight blush covering her cheeks.

"I'm sorry this evil gangster had you locked in the basement all this time" She apologized to Bepo, achieving a dark chuckle from his target.

"He-he didn't lock me, he saved me" something sorrowful from his childish voice hit her deep, she knew all of a sudden that he had been as trapped as her, but he was free now, and she wasn't. She smiled at him and nodded, out of words, her arms chilling again as an overwhelming loneliness surrounded her. Luffy and zoro were too far away to free her, none of them, nor Sanji, Chopper or Robin knew how to find her. She was alone.

Nami struggled to focus on the conversation again, her eyes meeting with Law's observing glance. This time he wasn't smirking as he used to, he remained expressionless, but never broke the contact.

In fact, it was she who did.

Truth was, it was much funnier to do the cleaning with Bepo. She didn't need to ask why they had been hiding him. She had seen many times at the casino how animals were used in luxurious circus shows, and she knew of numerous millionaires who would pay overwhelming amounts of money for a _talking bear_, which included cruelly murdering its previous owners if they denied to the trade. People like Caesar Clown would have given anything to experiment with him. It made sense to her that Law had been so careful about her finding out, and it also made her glad to see that they all had agreed that she was trustworthy enough to let them meet. _No wonder why I feel so guilty too. It's Nojiko who they trust, not Nami._

Besides the fact that Bepo spoke, she had been surprised by his manners. He surely hadn't learnt them from Law, but anyway, Nami was glad he was so nice towards her. It seemed that the guys had spoken a lot about her, for Bepo seemed to be up to everything that happened at the bar. It took her one afternoon to learn that he was not eager to speak much about his lost family, and another one to learn that he had been born a speaking bear, and that he knew karate too. Spending time with him was as fun as bitter, for he constantly reminded her how much she missed Chopper.

Tuesdays were boring because it was one of the three days of the week in which Vivi didn't go. Instead of her, Nami had to put up with the shallow chuckling of a younger girl, her conversation centered completely in her imaginary chances with the grey-eyed gangster that happened to be Nami's boss. The few people that had arrived didn't contribute to her growing drowsiness; neither did the reddish rays of light coming from the windows. Turning her back on the girl with the excuse of preparing a drink, Nami found herself face to face with a glittering collection of colored reflections, realizing how beautiful the bar was, with its large bottle shelves and the elegant glassware. She felt kind of sad she had so little time to enjoy it all. _I would double the incomes if I could manage it as I manage the Going Merry, _she thought in an effort to cheer herself up. It was the rough voice of a man what brought her back to reality.

"Rum only, please"

Nami barely nodded and turned herself around to attend him without looking at him.

"Girl… You seem familiar..."

She froze, her heart suddenly going faster, she heard herself saying naturally "Sorry, I don't think so" and yet, as she raised her eyes, helplessly she recognized one Doflamingo's drug dealers.

_Bellami_

She took one step back as the huge man on the counter leaned towards her " I'm sure..." Nami panicked as he reached for her hand. Immediately after, as a hint of recognition crossed his face, he grasped it tightly "You are that Doflamingo's girl…!"

"Nojiko" It was the impavid voice of her boss what interrupted him. She tried in vain to hide her anxiety. _Did He hear?_ Still with her eyes on Bellami, trying to keep as distant from him as his grasp allowed, she didn't give herself a moment to look around.

Bellami's surprise turned into a tense grimace "Law" he saluted, nervously raising his body from the stool.

Nami used Bellami's distraction to free herself, still too nervous to decide what to do. _I have to leave._ For a fraction of a second, she met Law's authoritarian gray eyes, which made her shiver. _He knows. _She bit her lip. _Damn, what do I do?._

"It's good to see you again, Bellami" he replied, as friendly as he could be, and yet he grabbed the dealer's shoulder with one hand and sat him down with one violent movement. "Nojiko-ya, you are dismissed"

"what?"

"Leave"

Nami looked at the door in confusion just to see Shachi blocking it, he signaled her towards the kitchen and before she could realize she was already crossing the basement door. Wordless, the girl walked down the stairs to arrive at a small crowded room.

_What am I doing? I need to leave_. There was no way of escaping through the main door, so maybe down here; in the basement she could do it. This was the first time she ever went down. The room was full of beer containers and a couple of freezers, leaving a slight passage to go behind it all. She went through it, too aware of the splintered plastic boxes hurting her skin and the stinking of humidity around her. Finally, she arrived to a small room with some couches, a table and a radio, illuminated by some small windows up on the walls.

Nami was too busy observing the place to notice Bepo at the table.

"Nojiko-ya, are you alright?"

Somehow, it felt wrong to knock him down just to find a way out. If Law found that she had lied _and_ beaten one of his men, things could get even worse, so she had to force herself to feign confidence, difficult as it seemed with her head pounding like that.

"Bepo...Is there a door out down here" _It's not like I have time to play around either. _She said this while walking to the piled boxes around the room, if there was a way out, she would find it.

"Are you leaving us?"

It was partly the sadness in the bear's voice and partly his accuracy what forced her to look at him.

"I have to" Nami replied, not quite sure why she was not lying about it, spending too much time with Luffy had surely influenced her, she guessed.

Bepo replied carefully "I'll tell you how to escape if that's what you want"

"...but?"

"But please don't leave us"

There it was. A deep grief in his voice that kept her from moving. Somehow, Nami felt the need of staying close to him, just as she had felt the need to keep close to the village children that had been taken to the casino, she knew that following her feelings would bring her nothing good, but still she knew that she would regret not doing it "How do you know I want to leave?"

"The boss told me this could happen"

"Law?"

"He said that you were some kind of outlaw, a criminal or something like that, and that people like you always brought problems behind them, so that sometimes he would need to send you down here with me" He said it as if it was the simplest thing on earth "He said that you were free to leave through the window above the shelf if you wanted"

_But he didn't know who I am_. She doubted. "If he knew I would bring trouble, why did he let me stay?"

Bepo shrugged his shoulders "Maybe it's because you are like us". More moved than she would have wanted, she believed him. She walked slowly to the shelves, not sure about what to do.

"Why do you want me to stay?"

The bear left the book in his hands over the couch and walked to the shelf, opening the window for her. Looking outside, he added "It doesn't matter who is after you, you are safer with us"

_No, there is a place where I'm safer. _She thought, internally craving for her friends to be with her.

Not fully sure yet, she moved to one of the couches and threw herself over it. A voice inside yelling that she should be already gathering her things to leave, another one whispering that everything would be ok. _Stupid Luffy_. She cursed. She blamed him for her brand new trust in people.

When Shachi appeared at the end of the staircase she was not sure of how much time had passed. He handed her a mug with coffee and smiled at her. "Law will be glad you are still here" but she watched him avoid her gaze nervously. _Maybe I made a mistake._

She didn't drink the coffee, but put her hands around it trying to warm herself, if she was right, what was coming was not just a conversation, but a negotiation, which made her feel partially more confident, after all Nojiko was about to leave, and The Cat Burglar Nami was not expected to act all innocent.

Law appeared half an hour later, followed by Penguin and Jean Bart, and sat on the couch in front of her, his arms resting wide over the back of it. He stood silent for some seconds, his gaze fixed on her with that unreadable expression that irritated her so much.

"You closed earlier today" She offered, sounding more confident than she really was.

"It's difficult to serve so many clients without people"

"What about Penguin?" she was sure he knew how to make drinks. Or at least enough of them to help in moments of need.

The dark haired man frowned a strange smile, absolutely new for her "he was busy making sure your friend kept his mouth shut"

Goosebumps ran through Nami's arms, but she didn't let any emotion reach her eyes. Instead, she kept holding his glance, expectant.

"What is your real name?" It was not a question but an order, and she hated that tone, but she had no options. The sudden tension in the room didn't pass unnoticed to the girl, curiosity overcoming her anxiety. Her lips trembled before opening, only then she was realizing how much she feared that moment

"Nami"

Silence

"The Cat-burglar Nami?"

Being called like that again brought to her some of her old confidence, straightening her back, the girl took a deep breath "That's right"

Penguin and Shachi exchanged looks, as Law's glance darkened, leaving no trace of whatever grin might have been there.

"Who are you running away from?" It didn't really sound as a question.

Nami stiffened, not sure if saying the truth was the right thing to do. Lying would put them in more danger than they deserved, especially because there was still a chance that they were wanting to help her "The Donquixote family"

"Why?"

The question surprised her. She expected fear, she expected him to fire her immediately. She expected Sachi and Penguin suddenly falling over her to catch her and claim whatever bounty was over her head. But there he was, asking _why_ as if her pursuers didn't matter. _Is he mad?_

"I used to work for them"

"Did you really think that quitting was an option?" He was still looking at her. There was a subtle note of sarcasm in his voice.

"I didn't want to work for them in the first place"

"How was it that you ended up doing it, then?"

That was a good question, for Nami was well aware of that blank space in her memory. There were days lacking, whole moments of the day absolutely erased, shattered images and sounds. She tried to think of something to answer quickly but she couldn't come to anything convincing enough.

"I guess you don't want to talk about it" He added in what struck her as a softer voice, this time looking at her eye to eye. Somewhat nervous, she looked at the drink on the mug and took the first zip, feeling that she had done well in staying. Anyway, the most honest option was to leave them alone, if the news of her hideout spread, Doflamingo would burn the pub to ashes, without any doubt. Taking a deep breath which smelt like coffee and beer she faced him again and opened her mouth to announce her decision. But before she could speak he interrupted her.

"Three days"

"What?" her caramel eyes opened wide in surprise, she realized that both, Shachi and Penguin moved uncomfortably at their boss decision.

"You have three days to prepare yourself, call someone to pick you up, plan your next route. Three days would suffice"

She shivered, _Why am I so sad?, I knew I would have to leave all of a sudden. _But it still felt as if she had become a burden, they had to get rid of her if they wanted to be safe. She had to be grateful that Law wasn't kicking her out right away..

Just as if the man had read her thoughts, he added with a slightly concerned tone "I cannot assure you your friend will keep his mouth shut for more than that"

She leaned to one of the sofa arms and leaned her head over her hand, feeling free to speak confidently. "Why are you so sure he is not calling Doflamingo right now?"

He smirked that threatening, blood chilling grin of his. "We have our methods, Nami-ya"

Why are you helping me?. She wanted to ask that, but suddenly her mind became foggy and her stomach started aching in exhaustion. She excused herself, but before she left he grasp her wrist to stop her.

"Take this with you until you leave"

Nami didn't even bother to get angry at his command, for she was curiously looking at the small Den den Mushi he was handling her.

Too tired to notice Shachi and Penguin's nervous glances, she left.


	4. Chapter 4

I'm sorry for the delay, I got sick last week, so I slept the time I was supposed to dedicate to finish the details of the chapter. Special thanks to Nom de Plume, Sai-Uchiha, Always Keep the Faith and Kagehime3 for the reviews, you are the best.

Chapter 4

Being herself again felt right. Being accepted as The Cat burglar without being sold in the process felt good too, even in the urgency of leaving soon, she had to admit it was nice to be called by her name again, and just the thought that they were taking some risks at letting her stay some days comforted her. She would definitely miss the pub.

Still, her mind was a chaos.

The newly opened trust had also opened the door for new questions and speculations, but Nami wasn't very eager to share too much with them, the less information they had about her, the safer they were, and so was she. Anyways, even if she trusted them now, there always existed the possibility of being betrayed, or of falling into a trap. After all, Nami didn't know much about them, and even though she loved the idea of trusting them, just as she trusted Luffy, a part of her would always doubt.

Besides the future chances of being chased and sold, she was forced to admit that her headaches were worsening, as well as her dizziness. Acting in front of her workmates was easy as Bepo barely noticed her mood changes, but hiding them from Law had proven extremely difficult, and she had caught him looking at her while she tried to conceal it. Serving drinks feeling that sick wasn't easy and the smell of alcohol only worsened her nausea but there was no time to worry about it now, she would have time to ask Chopper once they met again, in less than a month if everything went as planned.

By the end of the first day Law had already paid her in advance for her work. He'd also added a little bit more, as a "goodbye present", much for her surprise, and Bepo had invited her to have dinner together. Even though Nami knew how hard would be to part from him, she accepted.

The second day she arrived last at the pub, too busy with the preparations for her trip. She sold half her clothes and used the money to improvise a basic aids kit, which would prove useful in the days to come. Most of her time was used in thinking where she should head to now.

After the night shift, which passed with no incidents, Nami was cleaning up the counter when Law appeared from the basement with a map in his hands, and sat on a stool, bluntly placing the map in front of her.

Her eyes immediately fell over it "Is this a map of the city?"

He shot her a brief grin and spotted the train line with one of his tattooed fingers. "This is the fastest way out of the city, it's not cheap, but it will buy you some time"

She placed her caramel eyes on the line to examine his proposal, that train would take her to the next city, Goa, in a day and a half, where she would have a good chance to hide for some days.

"It's too obvious" She complained, and it was true, but sometimes the obvious was actually the best option.

"If anyone comes looking for you, they'll start here. We'll mislead them" He said it as if it was normal. Without raising her head, she looked at him, still confused at how he was dismissing her one day, helping her the other. She frowned.

"I thought you just wanted me out of here"

He stopped grinning, but even if his look seemed uninterested she knew he was being serious "This isn't the best place to hide, Nami-ya. I have too many clients. It's a matter of time before someone recognizes you"

Somehow, it made her feel a lot better to hear him say that. She gave him an honest smile and focused on the map again, it was kind of late to start getting fond of her boss, so she decided not to think about it again. They would probably never meet again.

"Where do these buses go?" she asked pointing to a station placed on the other side of the city.

"To Goa too, but it takes them one more day, and they stop constantly"

She nodded in understanding. She needn't ask about the third and fourth bus stations, they would bring her back to Dressrosa, to Suiren, halfway to the casino she was fleeing from. Even when she was dying to see her friends again, she knew that going back to Dressrosa by the most direct way was meant to be a failure. Everyone back there knew Doflamingo had a huge bounty on her head, there was no way to infiltrate safely. The best option was going to Goa and then to the next port, go back through the isles.

"Anything about Goa that I should know?"

"Most of the city is under the control of an idiot called Kid, I don't recommend you to negotiate with him unless you don't mind paying in alternative ways" His plain voice contrasted with the terrifying danger he was announcing, but the burglar didn't feel too threatened as going undercover was one of her strong points.

"What happens if I tell him you sent me?"

He shrugged his shoulders "You are free to try"

_No bluffing then_. She took a mental note and gave another long look at the map. She wasn't sure whether Law was going to give it to her or not, but she could _borrow it _if he didn't, for it was easier for them to get a new one. She was reading the names of the smaller towns around, just to have a plan B when a heavy slumberness suddenly fell over her eyelids. She yawned.

Fighting her body to behave normal, she forced her shoulders to keep straight and her head to remain up, pretending to be still focused on the map, she struggled to find an answer.

"Don't you know anyone else there who would hide me for a couple of days?"

He didn't reply.

Nami raised her face to see what was wrong, finding him in one of those glances which made her shiver. He was observing her with those gray calculating eyes, trying to get from her things that she didn't want to share. Almost unconsciously, she frowned, slowly pushing her body away from the counter in an unconsciously defensive position. It wasn't like she could run away, but the cold sweat coming down her neck was suddenly telling her he was dangerous.

Finally, he moved his lips as if intending to say something, but stopped. There was something else in his mind, something he was hiding her, she realized clearly, but before she could ask Penguin came out noisily from the kitchen announcing that dinner was ready.

The smile came naturally to her lips when she turned her head to meet him

"Good I'm hungry"

By the time they were in the basement, every trace of tension was gone.

The dinner was short and less lively than she'd like to, which was natural considering that she had been lying to them for the last month. The only one who seemed not to care was Bepo, the only one who was truly sorry she had to go. It never ceased to amaze her how similar he was to Chopper, trusting anyone in their way.

She would miss him.

Nami left them early, partly because goodbyes always hurt her, partly because the conversation with Law had changed her plans. She would leave sooner than expected, even if that meant that there would be no chances to talk a last time to Vivi, maybe it was that way.

There was still something that she had to do, so she decided that next day in the morning she would go to the pub before leaving, hopefully she could leave Vivi a message.

The following morning the room Nojiko had rented was left as if it had never been occupied. The sky was gray, and an uncomfortable cold wind moved the few orange locks of hair that didn't fit inside the hat. It was too early for anyone to be in the pub, so nobody would see her take the Den den mushi from the glassware shelf. She needed it more than Law anyway.

As she opened the front door, she was too lost in thought to notice the person sitting in the first table. It wasn't until she felt the sharp pain of her forearms colliding against the table, followed by the impact of her body crushing the chairs away, that she realized there was someone else there.

As her hands tried desperately to find ground on the splintered floor, a pair of rough hands brutally grasped her and held her by the neck, high enough to let her barely touch the floor with the tips of her shoes. Only then she saw with clarity Doflamingo's face in front of hers, smiling widely. Trembling in fear, she closed her eyes before he smashed her again against the long black table, making the impact echo painfully inside her head.

"Look who I found here" His fingers were keeping her neck trapped against the counter surface, slowly drawing the air out. _Damn it._ Her hands were uselessly trying to break free from his monstrous grasp. Supporting the tips of her feet on the floor, it was difficult to find a suitable position to attack back. The wider his grin became, the more more anxious she got, but still, at least, she knew that he needed her alive.

Suddenly, his grasp loosened, her chest racing up and down as the air came back to her lungs while her attacker spoke some senseless words, getting distracted for a moment.

She moved violently, turning her body around to breath better, taking the opportunity to look for whatever was getting Doflamingo's attention. It was then when she heard it, a well-known mechanical voice coming from the Den Den Mushi next to the bottles.

The huge blond guy sat on the closest stool, forcing her to sit on his lap, grabbing her waist with one hand, he looked at her through the pink sunglasses.

"Answer"

Her heart began a sudden wild race, she knew him well enough to know what was coming.

He wanted to negotiate.

But not with her.

How could she be so stupid?

The words came out from her lips weakly, her voice was a cold mixture of disbelief and fury.

"Law"

"What took you so long?" She noticed the hurry in his voice, getting immediately that he was aware of what was going on. _Damn_. There was no way out, Nami knew perfectly well that Doflamingo wouldn't mind breaking both of her legs if that kept her from escaping again.

"Don't be so harsh, Law. She was just _having a chat_ with me"

_So they know each other_. Her stomach twisted painfully, if she had any hope to get away from this one, it depended on the skeptical man on the line. Negotiating through Den den mushi was a treacherous task, but Nami could see how the insect imitated the perfectly emotionless eyes of her boss. Her lips kept sealed while she waited for his answer.

She wondered if the others were there too.

"It's been long, Doflamingo"

Each single word felt like a needle in her bruised skin, and a freezing sweat ran down her face when her captor's cruel laugh echoed in the empty pub.

"Our little burglar seems confused, did you forget to tell her who you are?" He grabbed her chin with so much strength that it hurted, and approached her to him, as if to have a better sight of her distress.

"I had to. I heard it was difficult to keep her locked in one place" Law's voice stank of mockery, but she wasn't sure to whom it was directed. Doflamingo's face darkened a little anyway, widening that creepy smile he showed each time something pissed him off. He let go of her face as he wrapped a lock of her blood-stained hair in his finger.

"Just wait until I bring her to my parents, we'll see if they still protect you when they know you were hiding her"

"I don't think they'll be that happy when they know you ruined their opportunity to talk to me"

Despite the sunglasses, she could see Doflamingo's confusion, but even though a part of her really enjoyed how Law was dominating the conversation, the other grew in rage with the realization that he meant to sell her. Nami thanked that Doflamingo was too worried about Law's words to notice her flinch in pain. How could she be so stupid to trust him? She should have fled when she had the opportunity, all that _you are free to go _thing was an act so he could sell her to the Donquixote family. Wasn't she supposed to know better?

She felt stupid, and she felt stupid because a part of her still believed in him.

As if pressing on Doflamingo's silence, Law spoke again, Nami glanced with hate the familiar smirk forming on the Den den mushi speaker.

"I assume that you are _eager _to bring my terms to you parents"

"You are too confident" Doflamingo's words sounded hateful. With one sole movement, he teared out a string of cloth from Nami's shirt, tying her wrists together with it. Nami held her breath, trying to remain calm, knowing that any effort to avoid what was coming would make everything worse. Slowly, he passed his hand to the back of Nami's head and pushed her face down on the counter's surface, pulling strings of orange hair away to free the back of her neck. Everything she could see was the rough black cover of the surface, so the sound of the cigarette being lighted took her by surprise.

"I'm listening"

Even when she was fully aware that the target of what was coming was Law and not her, Nami had to gather all her strength keep herself quiet. The heavy smell of the smoke reached her nose quickly, it tickled her nostrils when she aspired it deeply. It was so disgusting that it distracted her from the words that came out the Den Den mushi. All she knew was that apparently, Law required more money and power, as well as more men.

_Tschhhhhhh_

Nami heard it before feeling it, the stinging pain of the burnt skin at the back of her neck. But she didn't make a sound, she wouldn't give Law that pleasure. She couldn't keep her body from shaking though, nor the tears of pain coming to her eyes.

The mechanical voice made a brief pause, as if listening to what was happening to her. And then, naturally, completely unaffected, it finished. "Finally, Caesar will have to report his findings to me"

Nami cursed him under her breath. she cursed him for lying to her, and she cursed him for not being decent enough to show any concern about the burning sounds the cigarette was making this second time against her skin. _He doesn't care_. The Den den Mushi was close enough to bring that sound to the other side of the line, she thought, as frustration tears ran down her cheeks to the counter.

Doflamingo laughed, as the cigarette burnt her skin for the third time "What do we win from that?"

Nami bitted her lips to keep herself from groaning.

The reply was solid and confident "I'll develop what Caesar failed to do"

Waiting for the fourth strike, Nami realized that the offer attracted Doflamingo more than he wanted to acknowledge. Accepting the deal would mean that she was staying here, at least for some hours. She well doubted they had an entire day. Was Law buying her some time, or did he really mean to use her?

The few seconds that his captor took to answer felt like an eternity, cold drops of sweat falling down her back. The more scared she looked the less attention she drew. Or so she hoped.

"Fine" It was easy to see that Doflamingo didn't feel fully comfortable with the deal, but he was not the only head of the Donquixote family, and thanks god Law knew how to exploit that. "I'll be back in four hours. You'll hand me the bitch then"

"Lock her in the kitchen"

A shiver ran through her body, wondering how much time she had to escape after Doflamingo left her there.

"I'll do just that"

Nami realized what was coming when Doflamingo pushed her a little bit more against the table, but she had little time to do anything. There was a loud _crack _sound, and a gut-tearing scream seemed to tore her throat as her body fell shaking violently to the hard floor .

The next thing she was conscious of, was her painfully laboured breath and the dry flavor of dust. The air was a strange mixture of blood and sweat, and far away she could hear a man's mechanical voice ranting something indecipherable from somewhere above her. She didn't noticed being dragged to the kitchen until the floor under her eyes turned into a freezing white.

In one quick movement, his offender's hand pushed her back against the kitchen table and brutally raised her tied hands above the surface, hurting her arm so bad that she found herself in the edge of consciousness. He bent her hands so her palms faced up, and holding her there, he opened a kitchen gabet and took out, to Nami's horror, a long knife.

The scream that left her mouth when the knife went through her hands to the table hurt almost as much as the cut itself, her body trembled wildly while the throbbing pain of her left arm sent piercing electrical waves to her head.

Barely awake, she had to make an effort to open her eyes when Doflamingo took her chin in his hand and kissed her. "See you in a couple of hours"

The next thing Nami heard was the sound of the front door closing, and then, she felt the wet path that her own blood made as it made its way down her arms to her open shirt and her hair. Her knees hurt against the hard floor, but she knew that it didn't matter how uncomfortable the position was, if her movements increased the bleeding, the chances of surviving this were few.

Probably if she died, Doflamingo would have no obstacles to hunt Law and kill him as he pleased, he was not used to be bossed around.

_Law_

It was as if she had suddenly remembered him, and even as difficult as it was pulling the pieces of memory together, she made the effort to overcome pain and exhaustion for a moment and concentrate. Unconnected pieces of conversation echoing her ears started to make sense in her rambling mind as new tears ran down her cheeks.

This time it was not pain.

It was rage.

The hurried steps of the men coming into the kitchen brought her back to the cruel reality.

She heard Shachi's screams first, but the sight she had immediately after were the worried grey eyes of Law right in front of hers, as his hand held her chin carefully and his lips formed incomprehensible words. For a moment she thought he was telling her to stay with him, but somehow his words came from very far away, they barely reached her. He must have noticed because when her mind cleared again, he was giving quick commands to Shachi as the warmth of his arms held her steady. Her body was still shaking when they lowered her arms, movement that sent a renovated pain throbbing along her body, if she screamed, she didn't hear, but as Law raised her feeble body in his arms, she tried to say something to him.

Before darkness closed all around her, she spit the words in a enraged whisper, freezing the man's breath.

"_Death surgeon"_


	5. Chapter 5

Well, welcome to the first of two slow chapters, I think (I might change my mind, I'm still not sure about how achieve the pace I want for this part of the story). Thanks for all your reviews! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it (jejeje).

Chapter 5

The pain in her arm throbbed deeply, shortening her breath even in her sleep. Her head pounded, her eyelids felt too heavy to be opened, and her palms were frozen, but they burnt deep each time she tried to moved them. Not fully awake yet, Nami's mind swayed between vigil and numbness, slowly recollecting the shattered memories of the morning, as they mixed with vivid images of her latest nightmares.

The dreams were urgent and frantic. Each time she dozed off, she appeared in a new place of the Heart's bar, running desperately until Doflamingo's hands grasped her arms and broke them as easily as glass. In others, she remembered running was no good, and stayed curled up in the shadows of the counter, while Law's voice softly invited her to step out and show herself. Sometimes his voice echoed endlessly in the darkness, others it was accompanied by the raw laughter of Doflamingo, but she wouldn't go out. She could not trust them.

None of them.

Sweating cold and shivering with fatigue, she found herself in a new memory. This time, instead of breathing the dusty floor, she could touch the soft sheets under her almost bare skin, and everywhere she looked showed an elegant bright white. She would have liked to know where she was, to get up and walk around, but her legs wouldn't respond. Weary, she tried to move her arms, but she didn't even feel them, nothing would move, not her eyes, not even her mouth. Not a single sound came out of her lips, but she didn't feel distressed until she heard the steps. They were coming to her from the passage, They stopped on the door for moment, and then entered the room. _Run_. She thought, she commanded, but not even tears would run down her eyes. _ Get away_. But it was useless, the scream died in her throat when the slender figure of a purple haired man blocked the light coming from the ceiling and smiled at her with a syringe in his hand. _Run._

This time her body moved, her legs kicked something thick in the front, and her head stroke a cold smooth surface, her arms got trapped in a fluffy obstacle that she looked immediately, confusion showing fully on her face.

A blanket.

She was wrapped in an old white blanket, and something was moving under her.

"Are you awake?"

Making an effort to focus her sight, Nami saw Law's head turned to her behind the backrest, in the background, the windshield revealed a starless night to her.

They were in a car.

The words came out from her dry lips so low that she was surprised he heard her "Where are we going?"

Law observed her carefully before forming his answer "To Loguetown"

_To Loguetown. _Her mind drifted away immediately after, still too tired to stay bounded to reality. This time she dreamed of Luffy and Robin, she dreamed of the morning she left them, when she walked out the Thousand Sunny, the fog impregnated her hair and clothes, as well as the note she had left them telling them she would be back some months later. It was hard to say how much time had passed since then; everything would have gone as planned if _they_ hadn't left her behind.

They. The Rebels. Loguetown.

_Loguetown_. Nami's caramel eyes opened wide at the recognition of the Name. After the casino, that was the last place she wanted to go, she tried to shove the blankets away, causing paralyzing waves of pain run from her arm, through her bones and chest. Her mouth gasped for air, but she made no sound whatsoever, suddenly remembering to draw as less attention as possible. With the corner of her eye, Nami looked to her side, where Shachi was dozing off, leaning against the other window. On the front seats, Law was concentrated in a map, and judging by the hat in front of her, Penguin was driving.

Then, using the little energy the realization had given her, she checked her own condition. Her wounded arm was bent and resting on her chest, held by a piece of clothing around her neck. Both her palms were banded, there was something fresh covering the area Doflamingo had burnt, and somebody had found the time to wash all the dried blood from her head and face, even though it still smelt like it. She was tired, her limbs felt as heavy as stones, which worried her. She had no chances of escaping in such condition.

What were the options then? Her eyes closed again, letting foggy images unsettle her exhausted dreams, until the words came echoing again in her ear.

_To Loguetown_.

It hit her then.

He was not trading her. Not to Doflamingo at least; in fact, they were actually running away from him. From behind the red lock falling over her forehead, Nami spied on him. He had changed his usual black coat for a black shirt, and there was a katana resting over his leg. Despite his effort to remain calm, she could clearly see how from time to time he would tap his knees with his tattooed fingers and check the map all over again. If Doflamingo was after them right now, she understood him completely.

No, It didn't make sense.

Too tired to keep thinking, dreamy images kept infiltrating into her mind, confusing her. Completing the puzzle was too difficult when there was no way to follow track of her own thoughts. In no time, she was immersed again in her personal frantic ocean of fears and guilt, reviving over and over again her memories of the last months, the cold night air trespassed her window into the car and into her skin, infecting her dreams, bringing her back to one specific night in which a strange slender man was walking next to her on an empty street. His face remained expressionless, but when she lowered her eyes she saw his shoes stained with blood, leaving dark red prints on the asphalt. Scared, and unable to escape, she was gripped by her waist and pushed closer to him; immersed into his warm scent she felt shivers down her spine as his lips lightly touched her earlobe…

_Wouldn't you like to see the Donquixote family fall?_

This time when she woke, chilling waves of stinging pain shortened her breath as someone moved her arm. The car had stopped, and the only light came from the little yellow lamp on the ceiling. It took her some time to recognize the black untidy mass of hair moving in front of her. Her breathing came to a sudden halt_. _She was fully aware of her jaw hardening at his sight.

Slowly, he raised his head, noticing that she was observing him. Still holding the bandage in his hands, he offered her one of his old cryptic glances, the ones he used to give her when they met. She shivered in fear and anger, if it weren't because of the almost blinding pain in her arm, she would have slapped him right there, but instead, the only thing she could do was to show him she was not afraid, even if she was.

After all, they were strangers.

A playful smirk crept up Law's mouth, as if daring her to do something. But she didn't. After all, even if he hadn't said it, Nami knew he wouldn't let her go. Quickly, he raised her arm a little to accommodate the bandages. This time the wave of pain made her shiver and fold, catching his attention again.

"Does it hurt?"

A sarcastic reply was about to leave her lips when she noticed that it was a real question. Yet she couldn't but clench her teeth "It's nothing".

He frowned at her a while, then he turned to Shachi "give me another"

"But she already had one" Shachi's confusion wasn't enough to disobey to his boss, so he handled him a tiny white pill.

"I don't want it" It hurt, but she needed her mind clear. She had to plan something, especially now that her last memory had brought back a key piece of information.

"I need to know why you didn't give me to Doflamingo"

Slowly finishing placing her arm on the improvised support, he sighed loudly. Only now Nami noticed the purple circles under his eyes. "I need you to listen to me carefully" The smoothness in his voice didn't diminish its authoritarian note, making her blood boil in indignation; she had to bit her tongue to let him speak. "We both know that you are indispensable for Doflamingo's plans"

That was nothing new to her, so she waited patiently to know where he was going.

"but we also know that you know enough about them to ruin them" For a moment, she could have sworn she saw that odd spark in his eyes again, but this time she wasn't wishing to trust him.

"You want to see him fall as badly as I do. It's not that you have a choice really" He shrugged "but as long as you cooperate, I'll keep you safe"

_Wouldn't you like to see The Donquixote family fall?_

Accepting would buy her time, no doubt about it, but playing according to a stranger's rules was too foolish. Nobody assured her that he was not trading her to the rebels or the mafia tomorrow morning, nobody assured he was not lying to her, but even more important, nobody promise that the children would be fine. The only way to get what she wanted was counting with a reliable ally. Allies she actually had..

She had no doubt they were as interested in attacking Flamingo as the death surgeon was.

"I'm not sure you can keep your offering" she replied, touching her left shoulder with her right hand. She observed Law frown as his arm muscles tensed in anger.

"I didn't want that"

"I'm sure you didn't" Somehow, the accusative tone sounded childish to her, even when it actually hurt her to have trusted in him.

She caught with the corner of her eye how Shachi moved uncomfortably, a sting of guilt settling in her stomach. They'd gone for her, hadn't they?

_They went back for you because they needed you_. She told herself as the surgeon next to her sighed and adopted a more relaxed position. He had changed his spot for Shachi's, and as Penguin started the car again Nami made sure of avoiding his gaze for the rest of the journey.

Twenty minutes later they were already in Loguetown, a filthy town which had some remains of its former glory as an important city. The car stopped in front of a faded gray house, where Violet was already waiting for them in the open door. As soon as she watched the orange haired girl get off the car, she covered her mouth in horror.

"Nami! What happened to you?"

Fully aware that the whole Heart group was looking at her now, including the _stupid surgeon_, the girl simply waved her hand dismissively "Doflamingo".

The pressure of the hand on her back surprised her, and yet, even when her body tensioned, she kept her natural expression. "Where is smoker?" In his mouth the question sounded more as a command, as well as the apparently kind push he gave her when they entered the house. Surprisingly enough, when Nami spared him a side glance to see whether he had any indication for her, Law didn't seem to notice. He'd turned his concerned expression into a collected one when Violet let them into the small, smoky room.

Just as the last time she'd been there, the yellow paint layers on the walls were crumbling, leaving spots of yellow dust all over the furniture and the floor. Resisting the urge to cough, Nami had to make an incredible effort to hide how weak she felt, but when she arrived to smoker's desk, her face was inexpressibly cold and her voice distilled wrath. Law may have wanted her to pretend, but she had unfinished issues with the man sitting at the end of the room.

"How long, Smoker"

Her state must have been worse than she thought, because the huge man's eyes open wide in shock while Tashigi covered her mouth with both her hands at her sight. Meanwhile, Law let his weight fall unceremoniously on one of the room's armchairs; something in the way he smiled told her he was going to enjoy the show. That made her uneasy, though, she expected him to get mad at her challenge, not to adapt to it so fast. Maybe she was underestimating him.

"What happened to you?" The white haired man's eyes moved startled to Law, but he couldn't say a thing before the burglar's sarcastic tone ringed deeply in his ears.

"What happened _to me_?" She smiled accusatively, letting contain fury poison each syllable that left her mouth, by now the Death surgeon's eyes were fixed on her, and she trusted him to be smart enough to fill in the gaps of the problem she was raising to the rebels.

"We didn't-"

Nami cut Tashigi's explanation with a movement of her good hand "Don't even try"

Smoker was frowning at her, biting his cigar "I know it must have been hard but…"

"You have no idea how it was like" Her voice came out loud and definite. "I made it out by luck" She looked fiercely upon him, daring him to justify himself one more time, but he didn't.

"Listen, Nami, we really need you to cooperate"

"You broke your part of the deal AND you expect me to cooperate just like that?" A note of mockery spread through her voice, but the remark was meant as something else. It was a hint for Law, enough to help him pretend that he was at day with the information; after all, he probably wanted them to be thought of as allies. As if the surgeon had read her mind, he shifted his head to give a long, mocking glance at Smoker.

There was a moment of silence until Smoker took the bridge of his nose with his fingers and massaged it strongly "What do you want in exchange for your information"

Nami's lips drew a genuine smile now, she almost felt pleasure as she said the words

"You don't really think that at this point I'm offering all I learnt there"

Law chuckled darkly.

It was delightful to see the way smoker's angry frown crossed his face, his uncomfortable posture and the threatening look he was shooting her even when he had nothing to threaten her with because he was too damn proud to forget he had left her to die in Doflamingo's hands. But the most delightful thing, was to finally hear him say what she had planned him to say.

"What do you want for the map of the Casino"

She allowed herself half a smile, enjoying his consternation as the implications of her answer reached him.

"A call"

Law's eyes moved back to her, raising an eyebrow in a subtle question, while Tashigi made her best efforts to keep steady, but her fingers were tapping nervously the cover of the notebook in her hands. Smoker ran a hand over his white hair and took his cigar off his mouth to be openly clear to her.

"Are you sure about this, girl?"

"Absolutely"

"All right, then" he consented after a moment. "I'll let you know when we can get the line ready, you'll have the materials for the map soon"

_Finally_. So close, it was as if a weight had fell off her shoulder, but even knowing it was too early to consider it done, she felt as if her actions had an aim again. There were still some things to settle though, so she feigned calm and drop her eyes to Law casually "I'll leave you the rest then"

If he was angry at her disobedience, it didn't show. He grinned at her instead, a wide, accomplice grin that disturbed her, and then nodded almost kindly.

He was actually _enjoying_ the situation.

Trying not to think of that, she walked out and followed Violet to what was about to be her new room. The girl paid no attention to the place, nor to Violet word's, her limbs felt heavy and her head was aching again. A soon as her fingers touched the blanket, she realized how _really_ tired she was, so she rested her head on the flat pillow, and before Violet could finish speaking, Nami was sound asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

I am deeply sorry about the delay, but for some reason this chapter was hard for me, and bad news, the one that comes after the next it's resulting difficult to write as well. But, good news, the next chapter is almost ready to be released, it's pretty long and faster than this one, which I know it's kind of short and slow but (for me at least) necessary. Thanks to all of you who send me reviews and to the ones who follow and favorite this fic.

Chapter 6

The pain in her arm woke her up. It took her some minutes to get used to the thin strings of light coming through the curtains, illuminating the path of the floating dust moving duly around the room.

It hurted, but Nami didn't move.

It felt right. It felt peaceful. In front of her eyes, long locks of hair lay entangled over the pillow, glimmering like fire under the sun rays. Beyond them, she could see the shape of a table surrounded by three chairs. The rest was all empty space, barely filled with darkness. The air smelt of nothingness, and she could hear nothing.

Her mind was blank, refusing to picture a thing, too tired to work. Her whole body ached, specially her arm, while her palms burned when she moved her fingers. As her weary eyes got used to the lack of light, she got a glimpse of the long, smooth shapes lying over the table. The familiar smell of cheap ink reached her.

They were folios, ready to be drawn.

Her feet moved almost by themselves, taking her to the closest of the chairs that should have been replaced long ago. The pens they'd left her to work were the same she used to work with at Nojiko's house, as well as the ink.

Drawing maps always gave her moments of peace. It was something that she liked, despite of how difficult was the time she was going through. It was something she was good at, and it didn't involve anyone else. Long ago there was a time where she would leave Arlong's den just to put on paper some of the new islands she had visited, or the cities they had attacked, most of the times she wouldn't even wake her sister up, afraid of letting her see what she had become, but her maps remained in the same small study room, and it didn't matter how many materials she used, Nojiko always made sure there were more waiting there for her. Unaware of the moment in which her hands had started to move, soon there were black smooth lines over the paper, prematurely suggesting the overall shape of Doflamingo's casino.

Nami didn't look up when the door opened. She had no energy to pretend around him.

"I thought you'd be sleeping" His tone was polite, with a hint of probably feigned interest. The man didn't even ask her permission to sit down on the chair at the other side of the stained table.

Nami let him be. Drawing comforted her, the softness of the marker against the porous sheet of paper was hundreds of times more attractive than the sole idea of speaking to Trafalgar Law. She was not the one to start the conversation.

"I need to know what happened" It was a calm order, one that she didn't like, but what else could she do? she was the one to start that _alliance_, after all, if it could be called that way.

Giving herself some time to plan her answer, Nami left the pencil on the table and leaned her head over her now free hand, casting Law an annoyed glance.

"Smoker called me four months ago, he gave me this mission to infiltrate and investigate the abduction of twenty children from the red towns" Red towns was the name the government gave to the towns beyond the country boundaries, were nobody ruled, not even the mafias. One of those places were her friends were waiting for her now. "After two months I was supposed to be taken out of there by another infiltrated agent" It was a mechanical narration, as if she had been filling in a questionnaire, but she could see the growing frown in the man's face. "I escaped some time later on my own" She shrugged. "I didn't have any intentions of coming here, really. But you left me no choice".

"You should have told me that"

"We should have told each other one or two things, I agree"

"Right, because I failed to our deep friendship when you totally voluntarily confessed me who you were and I said nothing"

The girl shook her head upset, refusing to concede him that point "You could at least tell me you were expecting _him_ soon"

"I didn't know a thing about it until five minutes before I called you"

The girl held his gaze, wondering whether he was being honest. It was kind of difficult to read those cold gray eyes, there was no way she could get the slightest hint of what was going on inside his mind, and she was certain that he was having the same problem with her right now.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, I was more concerned about keeping him from taking you away"

That took her by surprise, for it truly sounded close to an apology. She would have believe him if it weren't for the fact that _she knew_ he needed her with him to have some advantage over Doflamingo. At least he was honest with it, she'd lost count of the men that had approached her with pretty words just to use her.

There he was, frowning at her again, while his lips were slightly twisted in a concerned expression. His back was leaning forwards, his elbows over his knees, probably wondering what to do with her. For a moment, Nami's mind drifted back at the few good moments at the bar, wondering how would it be to trust him, how this whole situation would be if he was taking care of her because he actually cared, like Vivi had suggested when they met. It annoyed her to think of that, mostly because there was a part of her tired of running away, that was eager to trust him. But there was another one, older and wiser, that told her not to trust anyone, continuously bringing back of his estoic voice as her skin opened burnt.

She could not trust him, at least not now.

"Is that all you wanted to say?"

"No" the annoyance in his voice was evident "I need to know who you are calling today"

"Some friends of mine"

"So they can rescue you? Are you clear I'm not letting that happen?"

The slight smile pissed her off.

"Actually, I want them to cooperate" She took some pleasure as he raised a confused eyebrow. "Have you ever heard of Straw Hat?"

Law left his head fall slightly to the right as he thought. "Isn't he the guy blocking the way to Foosha Village?"

"Yes, he is" That didn't sound good, in fact, She'd asked a rhetorical question. She didn't expect Law to know him. "How do you…?"

"He's been becoming quite a problem for The Donquixote family" He shrugged "They even want the government to raise the bounty over his head"

"Again?!"

"Apparently he's attacked four marine officers, destroyed twelve special shipments and sent back around fifty seriously injured soldiers in the last two months"

Nami cursed under her breath and pressed the bridge of her nose with two fingers. "I'm seriously going to kill him"

"Will he really be useful, Nami-ya? It doesn't sound too promising"

That called her attention back to him. "Well, it is useful for me"

Judging by his threatening look, he didn't like that answer.

"Nami-ya?" Bepo's head peeking from the door caught them both off guard. Waiting no answer, as soon as he got a glance of her broken arm he entered the room, making the chair next to her crack under his weight as he sat. "Are you ok? Shachi wouldn't let me see you yesterday"

"Because she had to rest" Shachi was standing at the door, looking at the floor. I'm sorry Law, he'd been asking for her all night".

"Are you alright?" It was the second time he asked, but it was the first time Nami noticed the glowing in his eyes as he took her hand into his paw. He was concerned, but truly concerned, she had no doubt of it.

Bepo confused her, but it also made her feel a lot better. As if helping her hide her awkward silence the bear started to tell her how he and Jean Bart had escaped the city, but Nami was barely listening to him. Bepo believed in her, and that was a problem, for she knew there was no way she could betray Law and feel right knowing her actions could eventually hurt Bepo.

There was even a possibility that he was doing it on purpose.

Could it be?

Slyly, her caramel eyes moved to Law, capturing the now lighter, suspecting frown and the twisted smile of his lips as he also observed him, and then, in less than a second, their eyes met in a long, sharing glance...

Bepo wanted them to work together.

Law got up as abruptly as Nami herself broke eye contact. That was not happening, at least not in any other form than a temporary alliance. Not in the way Bepo wanted it.

Handing the bear a ruler, Nami interrupted him to change the subject "It's good that you are here, I need another hand". There was no need of saying anything else, for Law was already leaving the room with Shachi, giving Bepo a last suspicious glance over his shoulder as he closed the door.

Much to Nami's surprise, Bepo ended up being quite a good assistant, and even when his drawings had room for a lot of improvement, he showed some promising skills. Their work was developing faster than expected, only being interrupted when Violet brought them lunch. At such a pace, everything would be ready by tomorrow morning. Both were so tired and focused that none of them heard the door opening.

"So you are the new acquisition of The Death Surgeon. You are quite a beauty, no wonder why you aren't locked in the basement"

"Who are you?" Nami didn't even try to hide her hostility towards the woman glancing intrusively through the door frame.

"I'm Monet" there was something wrong in the way she put her hands on her waist, and something frighteningly familiar in the derisive grin of her yellow eyes. Gazing down to the map drafts, she walked until reaching Bepo's chair, leaning over him to have a better view "I see Smoker wasn't exaggerating when he said you had a talent for this"

"So, you spy for smoker?"

"I work for Crocodile" That made Nami drop a loud chuckle, the annoyance in Monet's voice was too evident, which proved her supposition was right. The green haired woman was there to keep an eye on them. The new alliance was probably not everyone's agreement, but Smoker was known for doing what he wanted asking no permission to the other rebel's heads.

Law would surely like to know that.

Getting up from her chair, Nami indicated Bepo to leave the room. The less they spoke with that woman the better.

After a brief discussion with Smoker and the display of the advance maps she'd just drown, she got the call she wanted. There was a constant monitoring from the Marine bases nearby, which forced them to make brief calls, that meant that she had no more than two minutes to speak if she wanted the call not to be intercepted. Her heart was craving for more time, but it was a better opportunity than any other she could imagine at the time.

It was already dark when Tashigi went for her to her room. There was a funny tickling in her stomach, she hadn't spoken to them in months. They probably didn't even know if she was alive, and now she was about to surprise them with a cryptic call. Tashigi took her to a small improvised office in the fourth floor. It smelt of humidity and enclosure, but none of those things mattered to her, for she would be finally able to speak to her friends.

She had to stop at the door frame for a second to take a deep breath, feeling weak all of a sudden.

"It's time already girl" Smoker was inside the room, hurrying her up, and still it felt scary to take that step. What if Luffy refused to help her?

Nami stepped in when a hand pushed her gently, barely able to hide her surprise when Law stepped into the room, casting her an encouraging look. She would have prefered him to stay outside, but there was no manner to make him leave without raising doubts about their fragile _alliance_. Trafalgar Law didn't want her to call her friends, she didn't want him to be there, but they both had to pretend they were fine with each other around. Closing the door before Monet could sniff into the room, Nami walked to her chair and dialed the number she had learnt by heart, trying to look as composed as possible.

"Thousand Sunny here, what can I do for you?"

Nami had to shut her eyes and grasp her shirt tight to keep her joy from showing. It was amazing how much she missed them.

"Hi Chopper"

It was so like him the way in which the eyes of the Den den mushi widened and his mouth dropped, she knew her friend was holding his breath, just like her.

"NAMIIII! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? WE ARE SO WORRIED"

The girl chuckled happily while listening to the commotion forming on the other side of the line, barely noticing the distorted faces the device was making trying to convey all the voices at the same time.

"CAN I SEE YOUR P-"

"NAMIIIIII-SWAAAAAAAAAAN!, TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE AND I'LL GO RESC-!"

The laugh of the girl was so loud that drowned Smoker's growl, which was good, for it kept him from noticing Law's astonishment.

Trying to clean a tear with her fingers, Nami did her best to focus. She was running out of time "Guys, I'm kind of in a hurry here, I really need to speak with Luffy"

Zoro's answer was so fast it practically interrupted her "are you serious witch? you disappear for months and that-"

This time was Luffy's turn "NAAAMIIIIIIII WHERE ARE YOU! COME BACK, ZORO DRANK YOUR VODKA COLL-"

"HE DID WHAT?"

Smoker's non-casual cough reminded her why she was calling. Silencing her friends as they realized she was not alone.

"Luffy, listen to me, I need to ask you something"

"Is it about joker?" Her heart almost stopped when she heard him. It was really easy to tell what was going through the mind of her friend, at east to the ones who knew him, and that sole question, accompanied by the silence of her workmates, was enough to tell her they were with her.

"Yes, it's-" her throat hurt, forcing her voice not to break "I don't have much time, We have an opportunity to take him off-"

"We?" That was the first time she heard Ussopp through the Den den Mushi, knowing him, he'd been listening in case there was something strange.

"Smoker and "

"Nami, where are you" It was hard not to notice that Sanji was omitting the "swan" this time, it made her feel guilty to worry him that much.

"Let's meet in Alabasta" By then, Nami had almost forgotten the man leaning against the wall, it only took her half a second of eye contact to understand what he meant.

"Franky, Did you hear? How fast can you get them there?"

"Two weeks, maybe. I'm not taking the Sunny to open sea without you" The Sunny was his ship, but she had proven to be a better navigant, they seldom left the archipelago without her.

Violet's sudden presence into the room told her time was up even before she spoke.

"Luffy, there's something you need to know before accepting this. It is not only the rebels I'm working with…"

She spared a cold, calculating glance at the bored-looking man at the door "It's also the Death Surgeon"

Less than a second passed by, but it felt like a decade when the answer arrived.

"See you two weeks, and you guys better keep her safe"

As the threaten reached the two men in the room, the connection got lost.


	7. Chapter 7

As promised, publishing this chapter didn't take too long. This was a fun chapter to write.

Also, hum, I'll leave a message regarding a hiatus (I'm trying to sound important) for this fanfic at the end of te chapter. Enjoy it ;)

Chapter 7

If possible, Nami preferred to stay away from the marines. The government corruption had infected its very bases, no wonder Tashigi and Smoker had quit. They mainly had issues with the rebels, for their mission was taking the government down, which meant that sticking to the rebels was about to take her against the marines at some point. It happened sooner than expected.

According to Smoker, there was a marine division in charge of communication on the east side of the city, near the rebel's basement, another one, a weapon storehouse, was located on the northwest of the city. There was a third one at the southern outskirts of the city, a jail where some rebels had been kept for months. The rebels knew that the city didn't have enough marines to cover more than two fronts in case of attack, which hasn't been a problem for the marines since the rebels themselves had never before had enough people to attack more than one place at a time.

Things were different now that The Death Surgeon had arrived.

The mission was simple. Smoker and some of his men would attack the jail at broad daylight, dragging as much attention as they could. Half an hour later, Law and his men were to attack the weapon storehouse, take as many armament as they could.

That was her entrance call. Smoker had explained to her that each marine headquarters had their own code to indicate that the call(s) were theirs, her mission was to sneak in the communication offices while the staff was gone distracted by the other two attacks, and retrieve the generator code to Smoker, so that the rebels could create legitimate codes and avoid interceptions. That was the only way to coordinate with other factions of the rebels without the government knowing, especially now that Smoker suspected the rebels' calls were being intercepted and recorded by marines officers. That explained why she had heard so little about them lately. It deeply annoyed her that he'd told her that _after_ she had made her call. Though Smoker'd assured her they had made sure nobody intercepted it, reason why she'd had so little time to call. She was sure even the surgeon wasn't very happy with it.

And now, she was waiting patiently beside some trash cans to climb a three-floor building with a broken arm and a perforation in each hand. She had to admit she wasn't completely sure this was a good idea, but nobody seemed to oppose Smoker's plan, so her denial would have been useless, besides, she had to show some interest in their problems, even if she didn't care at all.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Bepo's paw on her shoulder, in what she knew was a sign of support, so Nami smiled back at him in reply. Truth was, she wasn't happy with him being part of the mission as well, but Law avoided her when she tried to discuss about it.

It was deeply unsettling that he didn't seem very confident about it either.

"It's time" Monet walked cautiously to the back of the passage and started climbing up the brick wall. Her slim long body seemed to have no problems with the task, and yet, what made Nami more uneasy wasn't her agility but the neat technique with which the green haired woman opened the window, just to jump into the room afterwards, leaving it open for Nami and Bepo to follow.

Bepo kneeled in front of her, offering the thief his back.

It was risky, and she didn't like it, but there were no more options. She had been sent to that mission to see whether she was eager to cooperate, while Bepo was there to keep an eye on her, and Monet to keep an eye on both of them. The girl let out a long sigh from her lungs before leaning over Bepo's shoulder, there was no point in releasing her anger on the bear. If something happened to him, she'd make sure Law regretted it.

Bepo got up as easily, as if he was carrying nothing. Shachi's been right about it, despite of his weight, Bepo was _surprisingly agile and strong, _and _she would be safer with him._

She could still hear Law words in her ears, each word echoing in her mind, feeding her anger. _"He'll make sure you don't injure yourself more than you already have"_

_Stupid Law. _

It was difficult to understand why he'd sent Bepo with her anyway, and so far she could only think of two options, he wanted to make sure she didn't escape, or they felt somehow guilty about her current condition and were not lying with the whole _don't injure yourself _thing.

_No, it's probably just him making sure I don't run away._

But it still was too risky.

With her good arm, Nami held on tight to Bepo's black suit, crossing her legs around him and pressing her broken arm against his back with her body to protect it. As soon as Bepo jumped, Nami realised what Shachi had meant by _strong_. In a sole movement, the bear grasped the edge of the window and jumped into the room gracefully.

Just as expected, the room was empty. The call for reinforcements had been done as planned, which meant that things were going fine for Law and the others. Not that she cared. Confidently getting off Bepo's shoulder, the girl started moving around the desks of the room. A quick glance revealed six desks and four cabinets. If they were looking for an access key and leave unnoticed, this was going to be reeeally slow.

"Start with those ones" with her head, Nami signaled Bepo towards two tall cabinets at the right of the door. She herself was already sneaking into the desk at the left corner. "Monet…"

"I'll go check the other rooms, I don't think they all left" Monet and Nami's eyes met for one cold second. Having Monet out of the room was both, comfortable and unsettling at the same time, yet, the orange haired girl read in the yellow glance that she was not asking.

"If anything happens, we'll leave immediately, understood?" Nami's hostility made Monet smile criptically, and once the rebel turned her back on them, the thief sent Bepo a warning look, who simply nodded.

The good thing about the marines was their bureaucracy, and it didn't took too long to Nami find the specific section of the call registers where the function of the desk was indicated. As expected, the indication was made by four numbers, a coded combination, which her experience told her, probably had to do with the their dial codes. She was carrying a piece of paper in her hand to write them down, marines codes were difficult to remember.

Time flew too fast for their taste, with no hints so far and sign of Monet anywhere, Nami's uneasiness increased as the minutes passed. Their progress so far was almost irrelevant, two of the desks at the left of the room, she suspected, dealt with the provision distribution or something related. The ones on the right of the door were in charge of the communication with the prison. So she assumed one of the central ones had to communicate directly with the headquarters, while the other distributed the the codes for each specific new office in the district. If she was right, there should be a register with the last created codes, for the generator key itself was probably not in paper, but memorized by the man in charge to avoid risks.

"Nami-ya"

"Did you find something?"

The bear's thoughtful silence called her attention. He had a thin blue book in his paws, which was clearly written in paragraphs. "This is the procedure guide for this quarter. According to this, in case of attack, the 0769P and the 0701X are to stay here to give technical support to the other divisions"

Her hands went paralyzed all of a sudden There was something wrong.

"0701P is criminal imprisonment, over there I think" with her head she indicated an clean empty desk. The other one had to keep the communication flowing. This time slowly, her eyes moved around the room scanning it again, grasping the uncanny similarities among the desks, the uncanny resemblance of their contents, the dots of dust over the wooden surfaces.

They were neat.

This wasn't right, she needed more time.

"Bepo, lock the door" as the bear obeyed, she explained "they didn't leave for an emergency, it's too clean"

"you mean Monet told them?"

They looked into each other eyes for a moment, understanding everything so quickly it seemed ridiculous they hadn't realized before. Monet wasn't working for the rebels, she was working for someone else. And right now, that arpy had a wanted fugitive and a million-worth talking bear in her hands. It was so clear now.

"Leave the room"

"I won't leave you"

"Leave it now!" throwing away half the contents of the desk cabinet, her shaking hands got hold of a thin black folder, its pages had hand written registers with three columns of numbers. The first wasn't clear to her, but the second were clearly dates, and the third had series of numbers and letters, probably the marine divisions, or at least close enough. Trying to think as fast as she could, hearing the heavy steps approaching them, Nami realized that if she copied enough of them maybe they could deduce the right generator code. If she was wrong there was nothing else they could do. While she wrote down the numbers as fast as she could, the sound of the door slamming open made her jump in surprise. She turned around just in time to see a marine point his weapon right at her.

The sound of the shot paralyzed her, so she could only see in slow-motion how Bepo pushed the man just in time to deviate the bullet which passed barely away from her.

When she reacted, Bepo was on the floor, beating the man with his huge fist, while grabbing another one by the neck, asphyxiating him.

Avoiding a third man while hiding the piece of paper in her bra, Nami counted four in total. Quickly, giving the fourth no time to approach Bepo, the girl took the gun from her belt and pointed over the shoulder of her closest attacker, shooting her furthest opponent in the shoulder and then in the neck. Chilling drops of sweat fell down her back as his body collapsed forming a puddle of blood at the entrance. While trying to keep some distance between her closest opponent and herself, Nami realized there were no signs of Monet around the room.

The cold breeze of the outside caught her as she passed by the window. Jumping out now would hurt her, but it gave her better chances to survive than staying…

… and yet she knew she wouldn't leave Bepo.

A tear of panic fell from her eye as she realized how little were the possibilities of getting them both out of there. Without time to think any further, Nami rolled over a desk and climbed over the next one to have a wider range to shoot. The sound of the bullet cracking the head of the marine that had been attacking her a few seconds ago sickened her, but her surviving instinct told her, forced her to extend her arms and pull the trigger again, throwing another marine in the hallway to the ground before he could even get to the room.

That gave her a couple of seconds to see Bepo beat a fifth opponent into unconsciousness.

"We have to leave"

He replied with a tired nod before Nami turned around towards the window. None of them saw the man on the floor move until the girl felt the huge arms wrapping around her ankles and pulling her to the ground. The floor crashed her injured arm painfully, and yet instinctively she rolled her body over her back to see how her attacker crawling to her.

The shot distracted her. She didn't see it, and yet she knew. Her eyes caught Bepo's pained glance as he fell backwards under the impact of the first bullet, while the second made his head hit the floor and the third impact made it bounce.

The fourth shot never came, for the head of the marine cracked in a deep red explosion before it could even pull the trigger again, but when Nami tried to localize her own attacker her hands were shaking too much to hit the target. As her legs tried to move, a rough hand grabbed her head and smashed her against the floor, making her drop the gun. Barely able to breath, Nami felt the growing weight of the marine over her hips as his hands clinged to her throat with fury, the tips of his fingers burying into her flesh, her legs twisted in a frantic effort to kick him away, as well as her hands were over his, trying uselessly to release herself from the animal strength that was crashing her. Salty tears were rolling down her cheeks and into her pledging open mouth...

Her buzzing ears didn't hear him crawling, but she felt immediately the weight lifting from her, followed by a heavy strike. The next thing she saw, were Bepo's worried eyes as he leaned over her.

"Nami-ya, we have to get…" His voice was weak, his expression tired, but he still found enough strength to pull her to her feet.

"We have to find some stairs…"

"there's no ...time for that"

He was right, and only one look showed her the three profusely bleeding wounds in his chest, a normal human wouldn't be breathing by now, and if that wasn't enough, there were voices coming from below and echoing up the hallways. Losing no time, Nami took the gun she'd dropped before the bear got her by the waist and jumped down the window.

She fell over him, feeling the impact echoing electrically through her bones, up to her wounded arm. Trying to ignore the paralyzing pain shivers the best she could, Nami quickly got to her feet and grabbed Bepo's arm to help him up. It was a bless that Bepo still had some strength, for there was no way she could have dragged him to the closest car all by herself. It wasn't difficult to open it, and it started immediately under her improvised key.

The feeling of the pavement under the car as her feet hit the accelerator calmed her down. Especially as there were no signs of pursuers. As the red lights passed unnoticed over their car, Nami forced herself to look at Bepo with the corner of her eyes, trying as hard as she could not to panic at the deep red stains spreading over his seat, soaking his suit.

"Bepo, don't leave me" She whispered, tasting her own tears which refused to stop falling from her swallowed caramel eyes.

His head noded weakly, and he muttered something undecipherable from his now wet red mouth, and when they finally arrived to the old building, Bepo's huge body collapsed heavily to the floor when the door opened.

It took her long despairing minutes to drag the bear's body into the rebel's headquarter, and just as she expected neither Smoker nor Law had returned yet.

"Nami? what happened?!" Violet horrorized eyes followed the trade of blood coming from the door to where Nami was miraculously holding Bepo, losing no time the dark haired woman ran to them, helping the thief to keep him on his feet, almost immediately turning around to where she'd just came from and screaming "what are you doing, help him!"

It was then when Nami noticed the two men observing them at the end of the stairs.

It was so cruel that it felt almost funny, because the girl realized what was happening before Violet did.

The two men standing there were rebel paramedics.

Under the service of Crocodile, just as Monet had been.

"We can't"

Violet's eyes open wide, her voice boiled in indignation "what?"

"We can't help non rebels unless our commander tells us to"

The cat thief didn't have time for that crap.

The weight of the gun in her hand felt sweetly heavier now, and this time her hand didn't shake when raising it "You'll help him. Now"

No one moved.

She unlocked the gun, tasting the fear on the two doctors as the safe of her gun _clicked_. "I won't repeat it"

Sweating cold, one of them stuttered "Even if we… we… help him, he might…"

"For your own good, he won't"

Nami scarcely felt any pain as she followed them to the infirmary, gun in hand. As they tried their best to lay Bepo's body over the bed, she leaned over the wall that gave her better sight to both, the procedure and the door, anything that went out of her control before Law arrived could kill them, and she had survived way too many things to die there. Violet stood next to her, trying to grasp the meaning of the scene she was witnessing.

"What do I tell Smoker?" Violet whispered.

"That Monet betrayed us"

"Crocodile is heading here right now. He's not happy that Smoker moved before asking the commanders for permission" That was all Violet said as she left, but Nami knew she'd figured out most of the situation. If there was anyone she trusted in that house, that was Violet. For she was way too close to Sanji to try anything funny, and right now, she'd just revealed her that a threat was on its way. A very dangerous one"

Nami observed the surgery in a dead silence. It was a silence that often scared her, a silence that often reminded her of the heartless woman that had been reared by Arlong, and that would never fully leave her. The Nami that would murder anyone with no hesitation, just as she had done a few minutes earlier.

But it was that cruel part of her what had kept her alive, so she didn't hide the weapon as the men took Bepo to his room and closed the door behind them. Knowing she didn't have much time to prepare herself, the thief checked her surroundings.

As she walked to the bathroom and poured some water to clean the blood from her face and neck, she took note that the bedroom were Bepo was resting was separated from the living by a thin wall. The only way to get there was going through the living room, where she would settle herself. So it seemed simple, she had to sit there and keep Crocodile or anyone else from getting close to Bepo until Law arrived. She'd see what to do with herself later.

The wait felt like years, her face burned and her neck felt swallowed. Her arm was killing her, and some locks of her hair were still stuck by blood and sweat. She felt weak, yet the gun felt comfortably heavy in her hands. It wasn't too long before she heard the footsteps echoing outside the room, and then a shadow blocked the light under the door before it opened ceremoniously slow.

This was the first time Nami had the opportunity to see Crocodile in person, and contrary to every single rumor she'd heard about him, the most scary feature wasn't the long scar that crossed his face, nor the hook he wore as a hand, but its cruel gray eyes looking down on her. His gaze alone made her shiver, specially because she knew there was no chance of running away. There was no way she could let Bepo alone with this man, but she was terrifyingly aware that she was no match for him.

When his cruel eyes set on her, he smiled with contempt. "So you are the cat-thief"

The girl pressed her lips tight, knowing that wording an answer would only give away how terrified she felt. So she opted for keeping her lips sealed in a crooked smile, still too outraged to show any reasonable respect for him

"What happened to Monet?"

Her dried lips cracked as they smirked boldly "She betrayed you"

Crocodile's eyes narrowed in a threatening suspicion. "What did you say?"

"Monet gave us in"

"How can I know you say the truth? you are nothing more than a thief. You're Doflamingo's whore for all I know." His words burnt her. Bepo almost died because of his blindness, and he dared to blame them?. "You are coming with me"

Crocodile approached her, but Nami didn't move. Instead, she looked slightly to the left of the rebel's head, were a gun was brushing against his head. That stopped him.

"She isn't going anywhere"

Law's threatening voice was low and bold, right behind his black coat, Nami caught the glance of Shachi's worried face and Penguin's hand holding another gun.

Crocodile bit his cigar with rage, but kept collected "Are you sure of trusting this whore, Death Surgeon?"

It didn't make sense.

Trafalgar Law was threatening one of the most important rebel's officers against any common sense to protect her.

It didn't make sense.

His only answer was the _click_ of the gun.

Fearless, Crocodile turned around to face him. "You'll be sorry for this"

"Leave. Now"

Crocodile's face twisted into a furious grimace. Nobody gave him orders, even less a common criminal, and yet he was fast to grasp from the Death Surgeon that he was prone to pull the trigger, there wasn't even the slightest drop of doubt in them. Giving Nami a last look as a warning, he left.

Nobody moved until Crocodile's heavy steps were heard climbing down the stairs, moment when the three men crossed the room into the bedroom at the other side, only Law sparing her a puzzled look, break that she used to hurry to her own room and close the door behind her. Her body finally gave in over the couch, shivering, as her eyes filled with tears again, tears of joy, pain and fear, confusing themselves as they fell, and her legs refusing to move until the door opened again.

It terrified her to hear him entering her room because she had nothing to say to him, even though there were too many things to be said. She forced herself to raise her head, the day events were taking its toll on her, and all her body wanted right now was a warm bed, not a honest conversation.

Nami could see his slim figure approaching through her tangled red locks. She spied him as he stopped at the door frame, and then as he came closer until he let himself fall over a chair next to her. For a while, none of them spoke.

Fully aware of his worried gray eyes wandering over her body, Nami forced herself to stay quiet when his fingers set aside a lock of her hair, sliding down over a long burning cut on her cheek, stopping over the little circular bruises on her neck. She could say by the way he gazed over them that there was no need to explain how she'd got them. He was a doctor after all.

"Why?"

His voice confused her, it was a mixture of rage, apprehension and need, so genuine that she had no option but to answer the truth.

"I don't know. I couldn't leave him" she whispered. "You shouldn't have sent him"

"He insisted" evident regret in his voice, then a long silence. "You wouldn't have saved any of us except Bepo"

"you wouldn't have saved me either"

Another silence.

"I'd do it now"

That took her off guard. Even though she was expecting some kind of gratitude, Nami would have never been prepared for what he told her. He wasn't smiling to her, he was just there, with his hand still holding her chin carefully, looking at her with his eyebrows raised as if he had just discovered something new. What he said wasn't an offer, it wasn't even a promise. It was a fact, and the honest confusion with which his cold gray eyes were observing her confirmed her that he was certain of his choice.

He trusted her.

There was no trace of doubt, instead, his lips were pursed down, as if scorning her for being so distrustful. She hated him, she hated him for reading her so well, she hated him for knowing right away what was going through her head, and most of all, she hated him because she trusted him. Nami was aware of the threatening face she was making. Her neck was tense, her legs hurted as well as her arm, her hair smelt of blood again and her head felt dizzy, and worst of all she wasn't sure what to reply to him. He'd dragged her there, she was not going to laugh and thank him for it, but he could have just step aside and let her deal with Crocodile by herself, and he didn't.

Instead, he was sitting right in front of her, patiently waiting for her to say something, refusing to call off their "alliance", stubbornly ignoring any hint of common sense. _What is wrong with him?_

And then he just left his hand fall, sighing loudly to then shot her a playful smirk "It's not like you don't trust us already"

She was too tired for this. "I'm not sure about that"

He chuckled tiredly "I'm pretty sure that's a lie"

That was it. "I'm too tired for this"

Leaving her seat suddenly, Nami gave him an irritated glance before opening the door of her room for him. Law shrugged, but as he walked through it he gave her a warm glance.

"We'll keep guard at your door"

His words echoed in her mind, suffocating the sound of the door shutting right after that. _Why am I being so mean to him?_

Back in the shadowy room, right before the fatigue took over her body, Nami the cat thief pressed the bridge of her nose to suffocate the painful memories from the people that had lied to gain her confidence, only to abandon her later. Why was he supposed to be any different?

From the death surgeon she expected a calculating man, somebody from whom she could just run away feeling no guilt, somebody who she could never feel slightly attached to. But Trafalgar Law wasn't the cold psychopath she'd expected, or at least not a cold one. He was too perceptive, and too honest. Too like her, and above all, somehow, he'd known how to earn at least part of her trust. She'd moved from being a mere pawn for him, to being on of them, and somehow she simply knew that he was speaking the truth.

There was something different from Dressrosa. It was illogical, but it made so much sense at the same time.

The touch of his fingers against her skin still felt soft, and even when she was trying to convince herself that doubting him was the best option, she knew she'd saved his friend, and that he was the kind of man that wouldn't forget that.

So the Death Surgeon himself was making sure nobody came into her room, and for the first time in months, she felt truly safe.

Besides, not _all_ the people that had earned her trust had betrayed her.

Trying to focus on the thought that her friends were fine, and that they'd meet soon, Nami went to bed wondering where on earth Robin and Franky could be.

She missed them so much.

* * *

><p>Thing are finally changing between Traffy and Nami! Yeeeey!<p>

Now, about that hiatus thing, I had this attractive idea for the next part of the fic that I was already writing down, but as I was writing I realized the plot wasn't expressing quite well, it's not working as planned it. So, it also happens that my family is taking me in these beautiful compulsory holydays to southern Chile, to a cottage in the middle of nowhere where my daily routine is reduced to reading and writing all day long (I love it), soooo, I plan to come back from the trip with the plot problem sorted out, and start writing the official chapter once I come back to Santiago, around the second week of February C:

If everything goes as planned I'll be updating my other Lawna fic, for the ones of you that like it.

See you later, then ;)


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